Law Firms: ‘You Have No Right to Increased Profitability’

Law firm rates that stalled during the recession are pushing back up again.

But outside counsel with dollar signs dancing in their eyes may want to think twice before sending their clients that December missive known as the rate increase letter. In the interests of stirring up the discussion, here’s a holiday bomb from legal consultant Susan Hackett, who wrote a Tuesday column on the subject over at Corporate Counsel.

Comparing the letters to “the stale, dry and tasteless fruitcake Aunt Matilda packs in the mail each year,” Ms. Hackett unleashes a rant that must have been building up for years during her previous incarnation as general counsel for in-house industry group the Association for Corporate Counsel. Here’s one excerpt:

Are you really going to argue that there just aren’t enough competent lawyers out there who’d like a job at half of what top firms pay their associates? Or that clients who work on corporate campuses located in suburbs, where it’s cheaper to work, should be thrilled to house you in the penthouse suite while they sit on stackable chairs in windowless conference rooms. . .